Regional News

(Jamaica Gleaner) – Former National Security Minister Dr Peter Phillips has suggested that the government may have “prepared the wicket” for Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke’s court defence.

(BVI Beacon) Jurors unanimously found a Guyanese man guilty of raping his ex-girlfriend after holding a jackknife against her in 2008.

HAVANA (Reuters) – Cuban President Raul Castro held a rare meeting yesterday with leaders of an increasingly active Roman Catholic Church to discuss international and domestic issues, the official media reported yesterday.

(Barbados Nation) – Guyana’s Honorary Consul to Barbados, Norman Faria, is a patient at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH).

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) – Honduras has withdrawn a case lodged at the UN’s highest court against Brazil as tensions have since eased in a dispute over Brazil’s allowing ousted President Manuel Zelaya to stay in one of its embassies.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – The United States Department of Justice has welcomed the government’s decision to sign the extradition request for West Kingston strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

News in Brief Helping Haiti The United States has pledged to continue helping Haiti rebuild following January’s devastating earthquake.

(Caribbean 360) KINGSTON, Jamaica – An arrest warrant has been issued for drug and gun accused Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke.

MADRID, (Reuters) – The European Union and Central  American states reached an agreement yesterday to liberalise  trade and cut import tariffs, giving total market access to  industrial products on both sides.  

(Jamaica Observer) A deeply apologetic Prime Minister Bruce Golding last night announced that Justice Minister Dorothy Lightbourne will sign the authority for extradition proceedings to commence against Tivoli Gardens strongman Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke who is wanted by the United States to face gun- and drug-running charges.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez on Sunday signed a new foreign exchange law intended to strengthen the bolivar currency, but critics say it will backfire and hurt the economy.

(Go-Jamaica) The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) hierarchy has revealed that Prime Minister Bruce Golding has offered to resign over the controversial Manatt, Phelps and Phillips issue.

SANTO DOMINGO, (Reuters) – At least three people  were killed in shootings in the Dominican Republic on Sunday as  voters cast their ballots in congressional and municipal  elections, authorities said.

Cops link AK-47 rifle, ammo to planned disruption of May 24 polls (Trinidad Express) Acting Police Commissioner James Philbert said on Friday that police have arrested five people believed to be part of a plot unearthed by security forces to disrupt the 2010 general election.

(Jamaica Gleaner) As the calls for the resignation of the prime minister heighten, official word from the government is that Bruce Golding is engaged in a series of consultations before deciding his future.

CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan legislators voted on Thursday to clamp down on foreign exchange trading, while President Hugo Chavez threatened to close financial brokerages, which he accuses of undermining the bolivar currency.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev yesterday said the Brazilian president was unlikely to succeed in his last ditch attempt to prevent further sanctions against Iran by mediating with the Islamic Republic.

HAVANA (Reuters) – A Cuban appeals court threw out a 20-month jail sentence for a dissident journalist yesterday and ordered her to pay a small fine instead, a ruling she said was a win for opponents of Cuba’s communist government.

Rights group and churches weigh in There have been more calls for Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding to resign.

(Jamaica Gleaner) – The sounds of consternation, shock and fury reverberated around Jamaica into boardrooms and bars, barber shops and parlours, on the streets and into homes as Jamaicans wrestled with the unabashed about-face of Prime Minister Bruce Golding.